Kitchen Politics

It’s no co-incidence that MasterChef Australia on Star World became one of the most popular English-language shows in India in 2010. It had a strong central concept,beautiful food,high production values and,perhaps best of all,impeccably behaved contestants and judges. Its broadcast was followed by MasterChef India,where food played second fiddle to TRP-generating hysterics and tantrums and superstar Akshay Kumar. The show opened well,but by the end of its run,viewers had begun to complain about how little they were actually learning from the show. The latest in the line of MasterChefs to come to India,is MasterChef US,on the same channel anchored and judged by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay,infamous for his screaming fits on Hell’s Kitchen. The few initial episodes show the judges,notably wine-maker Joe Bastianich,being unduly harsh with the contestants,while the latter also take digs at one another.

Given that MasterChef Australia worked without the tantrums,why do other shows using the same format not follow the same path? Chef Sanjeev Kapoor,who runs the food channel,Food Food,says,“It’s because what really gets noticed and talked about is bad behaviour. That is why producers feel compelled to write that in.”

With MasterChef India,one major grouse was that Akshay Kumar was roped in to host the show as well be a judge. While the contestants on the show seemed thrilled to have the Bollywood superstar in their midst — many confessed that they had auditioned simply in order to meet Kumar — viewers were less than enamoured. “It had a strong concept going for it,an audience which had already experienced the joys of MasterChef Australia and was waiting for the Indian edition,and the channel had to ruin it by bringing in Kumar,” rues viewer Ankita Shah.

However,Star Plus,the channel that ran the show has an explanation. “There is some level of localisation for the show in every country. So in India,we had roped in Akshay Kumar along with Chef Kunal Kapoor and Chef Ajay Chopra,while retaining the three-judge formula. Food is a great route to telling stories; it can lead to interesting conversations as long as it is done well. Akshay Kumar was the best mass connect — he enjoys food immensely and has cooked in the past,” says Monika Shergill,senior creative director of Star Plus.

MasterChef US,too,has its very own celebrity in Ramsay,and not everyone’s sure that’s such a great thing. “His personality dominates the show. You’re always waiting for him to start screaming,” says writer Sagorika Dasgupta. However,on the bright side,the famously temperamental chef seems to have toned down his language,possibly as Kapoor points out,because it was hurting his business. “People hated him for his behaviour on Hell’s Kitchen and he lost a lot of money in his restaurants because of that. Perhaps that’s why he is much more guarded now,” he says. Many viewers,such as Lisa Trinidade,were pleasantly surprised. “It focuses on the food a lot,instead of manufacturing drama and that works.” However,when asked to pick her favourite of the three MasterChefs that India has seen so far,Trinidade goes for the Australia edition. “Not one of the judges was ever mean to the contestants and the contestants themselves were unfailingly supportive of each other.” Seems like good behaviour does make for good television.